I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

Xue Jing said calmly.

Captain Apawa's eyes widened as he listened to the sound coming through the earpiece.

"I...I understand."

"So, what are you trying to do by spying on me here?" Xue Jing asked, arms crossed, looking down at him.

Sensing a hint of hostility in Xue Jing's tone, Captain Apawa quickly replied:

"We are the 'Dragon-Catching Gang' from that land. We came here to capture the lord of this forest, the 'Long-Tailed Dragon.' We really didn't mean to spy on you, and we have no malicious intent whatsoever!"

Xue Jing stroked his chin. "The Dragon-Catching Corps?"

Apawa nodded quickly and said, "Yes, the Dragon Hunting Gang. We make a living by capturing dragons and selling them to the upper-class nobles of that country."

Xue Jing's eyes lit up: "So, you guys are very professional?"

"Professional?" Apawa was taken aback. "Yes...yes, I am professional."

Xue Jing immediately smiled and reached out to lift him up from the ground like a chick, making him stand up straight.

Then he brushed the dust off his clothes, put his arm around his shoulder, and laughed:

"Look at this mess, it turns out it was all a misunderstanding... By the way, since you're professionals, do you have any way to find the dragon?"

Apawa first marveled at the man's incredible strength, then became a little uneasy at Xue Jing's sudden change in attitude, and nervously said:

"I have a map of the dragons' territories... I've painstakingly investigated it over the years. You can use it if you need it..."

Upon hearing this, Xue Jing patted his shoulder forcefully and said sincerely, "Good brother!"

"You locals are so polite, truly a land of etiquette! I can't refuse your hospitality, so I won't stand on ceremony... In return, how about I treat you to dragon meat?"

Apawa immediately shook his head frantically, almost spitting out sparks: "No need, no need, as long as it helps you... See?"

He gestured with his chin towards the black steel bar strapped to his body.

Xue Jing smiled and snapped his fingers.

The shadow flame steel barriers on everyone instantly dissipated.

Seeing this, Apawa breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took out an old scroll map from his pocket, unfolded it, and handed it to Xue Jing.

Xue Jing looked up and saw a fairly clear map, marked with red dots of varying sizes, each with local script written next to it.

"Look, this is where we are right now. This is the territory of the Longtail Dragon."

Apawa pointed to a red dot on the map and said.

"The center of this place is the roaring waterfall... The closer the dragon is to the waterfall, the more powerful it becomes, like here, here, and here."

He pointed to several large red dots near the center of the map: "The dragons that live in these places are terrifying; it's best not to go near them."

"We usually choose the outer areas to capture dragons..."

After Apawa's explanation for a while, Xue Jing basically understood how to read the map.

"...That's roughly it."

Xue Jing looked at the map and nodded in satisfaction: "Thank you so much."

“…I’m glad I could help you,” Apawa said cautiously.

"Then, can we... leave?"

Xue Jing waved his hand at him: "Let's go, let's go... Are you sure you don't want a bite of dragon meat? It's quite delicious."

"No, no," Apawa quickly shook his head.

"Then we'll be going now..." He took off his headphones and handed them to Xue Jing.

Then he said to the crowd, "Retreat!"

After saying that, Bento walked out of the forest.

The others remained silent, not uttering a word, and followed behind Apawa.

The group first walked slowly.

Once they were some distance away from Xue Jing and were sure he wouldn't chase after them, they immediately took off running and raced wildly towards the edge of the forest.

Apawa was the fastest runner among them.

"Captain Apawa, wait for us!!"

Inside the forest, Xue Jing paid no attention to the commotion of the natives, but simply unfolded the map and looked at it.

"Okay, let's start by clearing the outer perimeter and then slowly move inwards, starting here."

His gaze fell on the small red dot closest to him.

……

(Updates have been slow these past two days, I'll try to add more tomorrow...)

Chapter 154 Huge Gains, I'm Grinding Like Crazy, My Experience Points and Divinity Soar (4K)

In a valley covered with yellow sand.

Xue Jing placed a pre-deployed monitoring device on the ground, letting it use its eight mechanical claws to dig a hole in the loess soil and crawl inside.

He took the tablet computer out of the backpack that the Shadowflame Raven was holding and glanced at the map displayed on it.

At this moment, there are three white dots spaced apart on the map, indicating that he has placed three monitors in the border area.

"It seems that this border area is much larger than originally predicted."

Xue Jing leaped and nimbly onto the cliff, standing on a large rock more than three meters high, gazing into the distance.

Even with his eyesight, which allows him to see dozens of kilometers away, he still cannot see the boundary of this world.

According to the information Bai Ya had given him, the total area of ​​'Roaring Waterfall' should be between 500 and 1,300 square kilometers.

If this boundary is roughly circular, then the diameter of 1,300 square kilometers would be only a few tens of kilometers.

With his eyesight, as long as there are no obstructions in his line of sight, even if he stands at the very edge of the border and looks to the farthest other side, he should be able to see the boundary clearly.

"Something's not right. Even according to the map showing the distribution of these dragon species, it doesn't make sense."

Xue Jing took out the map he had obtained from the leader of the 'Dragon-Catching Gang' and spread it out to examine it.

"It took me at least seven kilometers to walk from the forest of the long-tailed dragon's territory to the nearest dragon's territory."

He gestured with his hand to indicate the distance between the long-tailed dragon's territory and the valley where they were currently located... about half a finger's length.

On the entire map, the two red dots that are furthest apart are separated by an arm's length of space.

"If half a finger is seven kilometers long, then the dragon territories that are furthest apart are at least a hundred kilometers apart."

"This is just a map showing the distribution of dragon territories, not a 'world map' of this border region."

"This area is clearly far greater than the area recorded in the White Crow's data."

Xue Jing looked thoughtful.

"...Either the White Crow's surveyors are too unprofessional and the data errors are too outrageous, or some anomaly has occurred that I am unaware of."

He then recalled the unusual situation he had experienced when he first entered the border area.

"The GPS at the exit and the two 'monitors' that were already placed are not displayed on the tablet."

"It seems that something has indeed happened that I am unaware of..."

Xue Jing sat cross-legged on the rock, a ball of black flame burning in his hand, which he tossed up and down.

His gaze was fixed on the horizon.

A long, serpentine figure was flying towards the valley.

"There's no need to think about anything else for now; things will work themselves out."

"The most important task now is to wipe out all the dragons in this border region and detonate their divinity."

The long, serpentine figure flew from the horizon to the valley entrance, revealing its full form.

It was a dragon—without claws or wings, with a single horn on its head, covered in smooth, dark red scales, and possessing a snake-like body.

Dragons are creatures with very distinctive features.

First, its body surface must be covered with scales.

Its head must have dragon horns.

Its eyes must have vertical pupils.

Finally, and most importantly, dragons can always fly.

Their flight relies on their innate anti-gravity biofield. Even if they have wings, they are only used to assist in flight, not to take off.

"This is the dragon species marked on the map."

Xue Jing narrowed his eyes slightly.

At this moment, the red-scaled dragon that flew closer also noticed a 'little bug' sitting on the rock of the cliff, which dared to invade its territory without knowing its own mortality.

"Roar--!!"

It immediately flew to Xue Jing's side and let out a dragon's roar that shook the entire valley. Visible air currents emanated from its mouth, and the strong wind blew Xue Jing's hair into a slicked-back style.

Xue Jing smoothed his hair and frowned slightly: "You're being a bit too arrogant."

Countless streams of black energy were drawn from the shadows and surged toward his shoulders, where they ignited into massive black flames.

Then, a giant's right hand, seven or eight meters long and clad in exquisite gauntlets, suddenly emerged from the black flames and grasped the red-scaled dragon flying in the sky.

"Gah—!!" The entire serpentine body of the Red Scaled Dragon was gripped by the enormous hand, rendering it speechless.

Its body struggled and twisted incessantly, opening its mouth towards Xue Jing.

"呲-"

Dark green liquid shot out from its throat at an extremely high speed, like a high-pressure water gun, forming a straight line.

Xue Jing dodged aside.

The dark green liquid pierced a large hole in the rock cave where he had just been sitting. The splashed dark green liquid also fell all around, and when it came into contact with the ground, it emitted hissing white smoke, seemingly possessing extremely strong corrosive properties.